On Saturday July 14, The Bandera County Sister Partnership Association was honored by Sister Cities International (SCI) during the 2013 SCI Conference In San Antonio, Texas. Ambassador Elenora Dugosh Goodley accepted the award for the Best Overall Program for a County of 25,000 or less. This was the first SCI conference that the BCSPA members have attended and their first award. The citizens and officials of Bandera County are very proud of the work and dedication by the BCSPA board members and many volunteers that have contributed towards receiving the SCI award and international recognition.

The Battle of Warsaw, often hailed as the Miracle at the Vistula was the decisive Polish victory in 1920 in the Polish–Soviet War. Poland, on the verge of total defeat, suddenly rebounded and defeated the invading Red Army, then pushed it back. It was, and still is, celebrated as a great victory for the Polish people over Russia.

As Soviet forces invaded Poland in summer 1920, the Polish army retreated westward in disorder. The Polish forces seemed on the verge of disintegration and observers predicted a decisive Soviet victory. The battle of Warsaw was fought from August 12–25, 1920 as Red Army forces commanded by Mikhail Tukhachevsky approached the Polish capital of Warsaw and the nearby Modlin Fortress. On August 16, Polish forces commanded by Józef Piłsudski counterattacked from the south, disrupting the enemy's offensive, forcing the Russian forces into a disorganized withdrawal eastward and behind the Neman River. Estimated Russian losses were 10,000 killed, 500 missing, 30,000 wounded, and 66,000 taken prisoner, compared with Polish losses of some 4,500 killed, 10,000 missing, and 22,000 wounded.

The defeat crippled the Red Army; Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, called it "an enormous defeat" for his forces.In the following months, several more Polish follow-up victories saved Poland's independence and led to a peace treaty with Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine later that year, securing the Polish state's eastern frontiers for the next 20 years.

The Bandera Sister Partnership Group recently won the 2013 Best SCI Overall Program for a county of 25,000 or less. Pictured are Harris Anderson, Cynthia Anderson, Debra Dugosh, Erin Thomas, Roy Dugosh, Elenora Goodley, Mayor Don Clark and Nell Clark, and Tom Lisk (chairman of the SCI Board).﻿